Bellingham Real Estate Market Report – Dec 2017

Here’s a quick look at the Bellingham Real Estate Market Report for December 2017 for residential home sales.
The number of residential sales for the month was 81 that is 7 more than December 2016 and the 1 less than last month.
The Average sales price of $503,425 is up by 6 % compared to December 2016 and up 7% from last month. It is also the first time the average price has gone over $500,000

The number of homes for sales went down last month, there are now 1.5 months of inventory on the market, (if no new homes came on the market and sales rate was same as it is today, they would all be sold in 1.5 months). There is still not much new construction in single-family homes.

Inventory is down again and is still extremely low at 112 homes for sale the day I write this. Any home priced right is still snapped up quickly often with multiple offers. There are only 10 homes on the market under $300,00 and as of today the least expensive home on the market is $189,900. This is making it extremely difficult for first-time buyers.

There are still buyers out there today looking for new homes but there is still a limited amount of homes for them to choose from.

Multiple offers are still very common in this market for any desirable home.

Interest rates are slightly on the rise again, and my guess is they will continue to rise.

Buyer’s, get a pre-approval letter from your lender ready to submit along with your offer if you are in a competitive market that may change soon.

If you don’t have it yet, start gathering the documents you will need to get one, which is usually 2 years of tax returns and 2 or 3 months of pay stubs. Check with your preferred lender or let me know if you need a recommendation to a good lender.
Want to learn more about the market let’s talk! If you have any questions or want to see any Bellingham Real Estate feel free to email me or give me a call at 360-739-6981

Bellingham Real Estate Market Report – November 2017

Here’s a quick look at the Bellingham Real Estate Market Report for November 2017 for residential home sales.

The number of residential sales for the month was 82 that is 8 less than November 2016 and the 4 less than last month.
The Average sales price of $474,922 is up by 21 % compared to November 2016 and up 12% from last month.

The number of homes for sales went down last month, there are now 1.8 months of inventory on the market, (if no new homes came on the market and sales rate was same as it is today, they would all be sold in 1.8 months). There is still not much new construction in single-family homes.

Inventory is down again and is still extremely low at 139 homes for sale the day I write this. Any home priced right is still snapped up quickly often with multiple offers. There are only 15 homes on the market under $300,00 and as of today the least expensive home on the market is $219,000. This is making it extremely difficult for first-time buyers.

There are still buyers out there today looking for new homes but there is still a limited amount of homes for them to choose from.

Multiple offers are still very common in this market for any desirable home.

Interest rates are slightly on the rise again, and my guess is they will continue to rise.

Buyer’s, get a pre-approval letter from your lender ready to submit along with your offer if you are in a competitive market that may change soon.

If you don’t have it yet, start gathering the documents you will need to get one, which is usually 2 years of tax returns and 2 or 3 months of pay stubs. Check with your preferred lender or let me know if you need a recommendation to a good lender.
Want to learn more about the market let’s talk! If you have any questions or want to see any Bellingham Real Estate feel free to email me or give me a call at 360-739-6981

Totally Remodeled Everett Home

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3 Bedroom. 1.75 Bath, 1,350 Sq. Ft., .25 Acres — $400,000

How HOT is Your Bellingham Neighborhood?

Everyone is talking about Bellingham homes selling like hotcakes with many having multiple offers and at prices that we’d only dreamed of. So everyone knows that home values are rising like crazy… but by exactly how much in your neighborhood? I looked at a variety of Bellingham neighborhoods, from Alabama Hill to York to find out how much the average home sales price rose from 2016 to 2017. Take a look at the list below to see how quickly single-family home prices are rising (or surprisingly decreasing in some neighborhoods)… and if you are in the hottest Bellingham neighborhood!

Comparison of Home Values by Bellingham Neighborhood

Average Sales Price : Percentage Change from the 3rd quarter of 2016 to 2017

And the winner is….

Cornwall Park with a 36% increase in the average home sales price from last year. W-O-W!

Next on the list was a tie between Emerald Lake and Geneva with a 31% increase and then South Hill with a 30% increase. York and Columbia were next.

For a better understanding of the average sales price by neighborhood and the percentage increase year-over year, please see the chart below. This is based on a quarterly report.

If there is an Bellingham neighborhood that we didn’t include that you would like to add in my next update, please let me know! Also, if you are curious about your home’s current value, you can get an instant value of your home with our nifty new tool.

Average Home Sales Prices by Bellingham Neighborhood

# Sold

2017

# sold

2016

Change

% change

Alabama Hill

11

$367,864

10

$376,980

-$9,116

-2%

Bakerview

5

$399,800

5

$346,870

$52,930

15%

Barkley

18

$473,022

28

$404,226

$68,796

17%

Bellingham

51

$419,227

77

$407,474

$11,753

3%

Birchwood

18

$339,850

6

$350,250

-$10,400

-3%

Chuckanut

4

$878,738

4

$1,063,125

-$184,387

-17%

Columbia

23

$458,033

14

$364,043

$93,990

26%

Cordata

5

$345,955

4

$330,628

$15,327

5%

Cornwall Park

7

$448,486

7

$329,214

$119,272

36%

Edgemoor

6

$627,053

13

$935,113

-$308,060

-33%

Emerald Lake

2

$388,750

7

$296,214

$92,536

31%

Fairhaven

5

$528,800

11

$467,355

$61,445

13%

Geneva

9

$663,807

20

$505,985

$157,822

31%

Happy Valley

4

$383,500

5

$328,957

$54,543

17%

Lake Samish

2

$609,000

7

$536,406

$72,594

14%

Lettered Streets

4

$392,000

13

$366,738

$25,262

7%

Mt Baker

2

$461,450

2

$450,000

$11,450

3%

Puget

16

$419,147

18

$393,145

$26,002

7%

Roosevelt

6

$321,723

9

$277,156

$44,567

16%

Samish

17

$539,551

18

$482,811

$56,740

12%

Sehome

3

$341,567

11

$340,673

$894

0%

Silver Beach

31

$480,402

14

$455,671

$24,731

5%

South

7

$515,429

5

$549,990

-$34,561

-6%

South Hill

12

$796,710

11

$611,791

$184,919

30%

Sudden Valley

60

$342,572

66

$286,352

$56,220

20%

Sunnyland

13

$367,023

16

$338,413

$28,610

8%

Whatcom Falls

12

$387,026

16

$388,992

-$1,966

-1%

York

7

$370,607

12

$289,642

$80,965

28%

Data from the NWMLS, statistics can be decieving especially if there are small number of sales in that neighborhood.

Bellingham Real Estate Market Report – October 2017

Here’s a quick look at the Bellingham Real Estate Market Report for October 2017 for residential home sales.

The number of residential sales for the month was 86 that is 3 more than October 2016 and the 17 more than last month.
The Average sales price of $469,126 is up by 20 % compared to October 2016 and up 7% from last month.

The number of homes for sales went down last month, there are now 2.1 months of inventory on the market, (if no new homes came on the market and sales rate was same as it is today, they would all be sold in 2.1 months). There is still not much new construction in single-family homes.

Inventory is down again and is still extremely low at 179 homes for sale the day I write this. Any home priced right is still snapped up quickly often with multiple offers. There are only 16 homes on the market under $300,00 and as of today the least expensive home on the market is $220,000. This is making it extremely difficult for first-time buyers.

There are still buyers out there today looking for new homes but there is still a limited amount of homes for them to choose from.

Multiple offers are still very common in this market for any desirable home.

Interest rates are slightly on the rise again, and my guess is they will continue to rise.

Buyer’s, get a pre-approval letter from your lender ready to submit along with your offer if you are in a competitive market that may change soon.

If you don’t have it yet, start gathering the documents you will need to get one, which is usually 2 years of tax returns and 2 or 3 months of pay stubs. Check with your preferred lender or let me know if you need a recommendation to a good lender.
Want to learn more about the market let’s talk! If you have any questions or want to see any Bellingham Real Estate feel free to email me or give me a call at 360-739-6981

Bellingham Wheelchair Warehouse – Medical Equipment for Loan

When I needed a wheelchair recently I discovered that Bellingham has a wheelchair loaning service. The Bellingham Wheelchair Warehouse run by the Lions Club. It’s a great service that offers loaner wheelchair’s and medical supplies the Community. Since that day I borrowed the chair I’ve been volunteering there every Thursday morning. It Is amazing how many people use the service every week.

The items they loan aside from wheelchairs are walkers, crutches, canes, knee scooters, shower chairs, commodes and a variety of other medical equipment. The public can borrow the equipment for up to three months at a time. People using the equipment come for a variety of reasons from surgeries and sprains, to people in need of equipment while Medicare or their insurance approves them acquiring their own equipment, to visitors to Bellingham that couldn’t bring a wheelchair with them. Every week people come to get things for themselves and their friends and family members as well as social workers and nurses borrowing equipment for their patients. All of the equipment is donated, people bringing in all sorts of things.I even saw somebody bring in about a dozen packages of adult diapers today and somebody picked up most of them right away saying they had a relative who needed them and it would save them quite a bit of money. It’s not uncommon for 50 people to come through the door, each day either checking out or returning things. The reusable equipment is all steam cleaned before it is loaned out to the public and each time it is returned.

Some weeks the warehouse is packed with chairs while others there aren’t many to choose from. Besides steam cleaning equipment the guys in the shop also make repairs when they can. It is all done on a donation basis. Is a really wonderful service and the public is really grateful for it. It’s always great to hear people so thankful that we are there to offer that service, and it feels good to be part of a group offering these things to those in need.

The Al Boe Wheelchair Warehouse is located at 4141 Maplewood Ave and is open Monday and Thursday from 9 to 11:30 am. You can find me there Thursday mornings.

Bellingham Real Estate Market Report – September 2017

Here’s a quick look at the Bellingham Real Estate Market Report for September 2017 for residential home sales.

The number of residential sales for the month was 69 that is 58 less than September 2016 and the 45 less than last month.
The Average sales price of $440,418 is up by 6% compared to September 2016 and down 5% from last month.

The number of homes for sales has been going up, there are now 3.4 months of inventory on the market, (if no new homes came on the market and sales rate was same as it is today, they would all be sold in . 3.4 months). This is the highest it has been in almost 2 years, This and the fact that the number of homes sold was very low in September suggests the market is cooling off a bit. That said there is not much new construction.

Inventory is up a bit from the past few months but still extremely low at 218 homes for sale the day I write this. Any home priced right is still snapped up quickly often with multiple offers. There are only 19 homes on the market under $300,00 and as of today the least expensive home on the market is $229,000 and that looks like a teardown, so it’s an expensive lot. This is making it extremely difficult for first-time buyers.

There are still buyers out there today looking for new homes but there is still a limited amount of homes for them to choose from.

Multiple offers are still very common in this market for any desirable home.

Interest rates are slightly on the rise again, and my guess is they will continue to rise.

Buyer’s, get a pre-approval letter from your lender ready to submit with your offer if you are in a competitive market that may change soon.

If you don’t have it yet, start gathering the documents you will need to get one, which is usually 2 years of tax returns and 2 or 3 months of pay stubs. Check with your preferred lender or let me know if you need a recommendation to a good lender.
Want to learn more about the market let’s talk! If you have any questions or want to see any Bellingham Real Estate feel free to email me or give me a call at 360-739-6981

How to sell your home on your own. FSBO

Are you selling your home For Sale By Owner (FSBO)?

You can do it and I’d like to give you some tips to get it done, It isn’t very difficult in this fast moving market where homes are snapped up as soon as they are put on the market. Most FSBOs, find that the hardest part is finding buyers. If and when they find one there is a lot that can possibly go wrong between the contract being accepted and the closing.

Selling a home can be very consuming. Here’s a place for you to find everything you need to know to sell your home on your own. If you decide that you need the services of an agent, give me a call! I would love to have your business and I won’t let you down.

I would love to have your business and I won’t let you down.

Here are tips on how to sell your home by owner:

How Much is a Your Home Worth?

Pricing a home right is part research, and part market timing, and a little strategy. Pricing your home correctly within the range of comparable home sales in the area should get you some immediate offers.

You can always ask an agent’s opinion of value or you can ask a title company to send you comparable home sales.

Make sure you aren’t lured into the seller’s biggest mistake and not price your home right. The first few weeks on the market are crucial to your success because that’s when the buyers’ interest levels are the highest.

Getting Your Home Ready to Sell as a For Sale By Owner

Your home needs to be clean and uncluttered with great curb appeal think “model home.”

Look at your home from through the eyes of a stranger. Get a friend to help look and see what your home might need.

Making repairs before you put your home on the market will ultimately improve your profit. Be careful not to spend so much money remodeling that you may never recoup it.

Home staging can make your home sell faster and for more money. If you don’t want to hire a home stager, think decluttering and even getting rid of most of your furniture. You may need a short-term storage unit.

Pets in the home can make things challenging. We all love our pet’s, but some will leave odors and they can be an issue when showing your home. Something to think about.

Marketing Your Home

Spend some of the money you will be saving by not hiring an agent on advertising.

Number 1. Hire a professional photographer, you only have one chance to make a great first impression. Have them create a virtual tour or video.

Consider drone photography if your property warrants it and advertise all the tour links in your marketing materials.

Today’s buyers are on the internet. Get your message to them by specific targeting. Facebook, Craigslist, and Google are where you want to be found. Create a Facebook page for your home and have all your friends share it.

Your first goal is to get your phone to ring and getting web traffic will make that happen. You’re not going to sell the home online, but getting the phone to ring will get buyers inside.

Be as flexible as possible with showings, and try and get buyer’s feedback.

Sales vary with the seasons, requiring different approaches. In most parts of the country, April through September is usually the best time to put your home on the market.

You may decide to offer a commission to selling agents in which case you may consider putting a lockbox on your house for easy access by agents when you are not home. Remember, most buyers have an agent.

Hold open houses, Saturdays work just as well as Sundays. Homes in high-traffic areas are great for open homes.

When a buyer expresses an interest in purchasing your home, the negotiations begin. You are in a unique position to negotiate directly with the buyer unless they are represented by a buyer’s agent. In that case, you will probably be negotiating the purchase contract with the buyer’s agent.

Purchase Contract For Sale by Owner Negotiation

You can offer to help the buyer write the purchase contract if a buyer is not represented by an agent.

Require the buyer to have a pre-approval letter from a lender to purchase your home.

Make sure they offer some earnest money to show they have a true interest in buying your home.

Have you considered where you are going to move to? You may want to ask the buyer for a contingent offer, that is subject to finding your replacement home. If you haven’t purchased a new home yet making your offer contingent on it is a way to guarantee you won’t be homeless.Give yourself sufficient time to find a new place to live

On the other hand, the buyer might make their offer contingent on the sale of their home. If you structure the deal correctly, you can always bump the buyer out of the deal or force the buyer to remove the contingency if a better offer comes along.

If the buyer’s offer is too low, you can always make a counteroffer, don’t just walk away. Some buyers just want to see how low you are willing to go..

If the buyer isn’t willing to pay your price, you may consider sweetening the deal by offering to buy-down their mortgage or offer to pay some of their closing costs.

What For Sale By Owners Should Know About Home Inspection Negotiation

When selling your home on your own, it may be a good idea to obtain your own home inspection before you put your house on the market. This allows you to know what it needs in repairs and you can fix it or otherwise address those items. You can also offer the buyer a copy of your home inspection report, which the buyer might accept instead of hiring their own inspector. If they are represented by a buyer’s agent, they will advise a buyer to have their own inspection, but unrepresented buyers may often just accept yours.

There will often be some more negotiating after a home inspection. The buyer may ask for repairs or cash discount in lieu of repairs.

The buyer may want to conduct a final walk-through inspection to ensure any repairs negotiated were completed.

Home Disclosures and Lead-Based Paint

State law required disclosures of material facts and a lead-based paint disclosure if the house was built prior to 1978.You must give the buyer a copy of all required disclosures and it’s smart to obtain the buyer’s signature as a receipt.

If you live in a planned unit development such as a condo or homeowners association you’ll need to furnish the buyer with a copy of the homeowner association rules and regulations. If there is a fee charged to produce these documents, it is generally negotiable as to which party pays it.Condo owners will also need to provide a “resale certificate” to the buyer.

It is common for the seller to provide a title insurance policy protecting the buyer, but this can be a negotiable expense between the parties.

It is a good idea to offer to pay for a home warranty plan for the buyer. This way, if something breaks or malfunctions, the buyer isn’t calling you to fix it or blaming you for the failure. If you’d like more information I have a book available to you about selling your home on your own, just give me a call and I’ll get you a

If you’d like more information I have a book available to you about selling your home on your own, just give me a call or fill out the form below, and I’ll get you a copy.

Here’s a quick look at the Bellingham Real Estate Market Report for August 2017 for residential home sales.

The number of residential sales for the month was 114 that is 11 less than August 2016 and the 4 more than last month.
The Average sales price of $465,417 is up by 2% compared to August 2016 and down 3% from last month.

The number of homes for sales has been going up but it is still relatively low and keeping the average price going up. People are holding onto their homes and there is not much new construction.

Inventory is up a bit from the past few months but still extremely low at 220 homes for sale the day I write this, keeping the market really hot for this time of year. There is only a ridiculously low 2.1 months supply of homes on the market right now. Any home priced right is still snapped up quickly often with multiple offers. There are only 14 homes on the market under $300,00 and as of today the least expensive home on the market is $229,000 and that looks like a teardown, so it’s an expensive lot. This is making it extremely difficult for first-time buyers.

There are still buyers out there today looking for new homes but there is still a limited amount of homes for them to choose from.

Multiple offers are still very common in this market for any desirable home.

Interest rates have come down to under 4% again, but my guess is they will continue to rise.

Buyer’s, get a pre-approval letter from your lender ready to submit with your offer if you are in a competitive market that may change soon.

If you don’t have it yet, start gathering the documents you will need to get one, which is usually 2 years of tax returns and 2 or 3 months of pay stubs. Check with your preferred lender or let me know if you need a recommendation to a good lender.
Want to learn more about the market let’s talk! If you have any questions or want to see any Bellingham Real Estate feel free to email me or give me a call at 360-739-6981